Atlas Rising a LitRPG gaming adventure Blake Severson (free books to read .txt) 📖

rooted in place, but the others continued through the room. They checked in each of the cells but didn’t find anyone. When they reached the last one on the right, they stopped. Atlas couldn’t tell what they saw, so he slowly crept forward.

“You guys don’t look like the crazies I usually see. Are you with Gaia?” A voice called from the cell.

“No. We are here to investigate what’s happening,” Stomper said.

“Oh, thank God. I’ve been trapped down here for weeks. I was hoping Atlas would notice me gone, but I haven’t seen him yet. You think you could get me out of here? I’ve got to go find him and warn him something is wrong here.”

Atlas heard his name and hurried forward. The voice sounded so familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

He turned and looked into the cage to see a male beastkin looking back. His feline eyes narrowed at the sight of Atlas. The dark gray fur looked soft and smooth. A set of basic starter clothes covered his legs and chest.

“What Atlas are you looking for?”

“Nah man… Not an Atlas. I’m looking for my friend IRL. He’s actually a nurse. We’ve been friends practically our whole life.” The beastkin told him.

“Keenan?”

The cat’s eyes stared at him for a few seconds before they flashed in recognition.

“Atlas! You found me. Why the hell did it take you so long? I’d think my best friend would notice me missing for weeks.”

Is this game playing tricks on me? Keenan told me he was a beastkin, but surely this can’t be him.

“What do you mean missing for weeks? I talked to you yesterday. You said you were busy with your new position as an executive.”

“You okay, bud? What’s this nonsense about being an executive?”

“You found a secret in the game and were made an executive. There was a press conference for it and everything. I know. I was there.”

“He’s right,” Shade said as he pointed at Atlas, “I was there when they announced Keenan Hall found one of the hidden secrets and they promoted him to executive.”

“I’ve been trapped here since a couple of dickheads ambushed me and drug me in here. I’ve seen no one other than some strange Gaia Corporation scientists in here poking and prodding at me. I’ve been a little lost on the exact time, but I’d imagine it’s been at least two weeks, maybe longer.”

Can it really be him? He’s been acting weird in the real world since they promoted him. The changes in posture, the slips in speech, I just chalked them up to his new lifestyle. Is it possible I’ve left my real friend trapped down here this whole time?

“It’s worse than we thought,” Stomper said softly.

“What do you mean?” Atlas asked.

“We’ve been trying to warn everyone something was off about this game and Gaia Corporation had a more nefarious purpose. We just weren’t thinking big enough.”

“Is this even possible, though? I’ve never heard of technology that can do this?” Shade asked.

“It has to be possible. We’re seeing the effects here.”

“Keenan, who ambushed you?” Atlas asked.

“Some jackasses I met in Nirithan. We partied up, and they trapped me in here. Got around their fancy party agreement because they didn’t actually harm me. Some dude named Hercules, and the other was Skullcrusher.”

“Damn. I should’ve told you. Those were the asshats who killed me back when we first started.” Atlas said.

“Then we definitely need to hunt them down and kill them slowly. Maybe we can spawn camp them? But first, you need to get me out of here and someone needs to tell me why I can’t log out of the game. The option doesn’t appear when I lay down, and the button is grayed out when I try to access it through the menu. I’ve even tried submitting tickets to the game masters but received no response.”

Atlas stood there with his mouth slightly open, unsure how to answer.

“Keenan, I’m Stomper. Shade and I,” he said while motioning toward the rogue, “are part of a group called Humanity United. We have a few friends inside of Gaia Corporation who tipped us off and warned us that the company was doing something odd. The logs for the game and the immense power of the pods didn’t add up for what they needed to just play a game. We thought they were using this upgraded hardware to alter memories or influence the players to do what they wanted. Instead, it’s much worse.”

“What do you mean? I still don’t understand.” Keenan said.

Shade looked into the cell and stared into the feline eyes of the beastkin, “Keenan, I don’t know how else to say this but someone in Gaia Corporation has stolen your body and is masquerading as you.”

End Notes

Thank you for reading Atlas Rising. This book is my first step in expanding the universe I am working diligently to create. Anyone following the Facebook page knows that this story is in the same universe as the main series, The Dimensional Wars. Before you ask, no I won’t tell you how, you just have to wait.

The Divine Genesis series will be a trilogy but it won’t be the last you see of Atlas. We will leave it at that. Now that this book is done, my attention shifts to Regicide, book 3 of The Dimensional Wars. It will be the next book I release. Keep an eye on the Facebook page and sign up for the newsletter to keep up to date about releases and writing progress. I promise I don’t send emails out unless it’s an important announcement.

Books by the Author

The Dimensional Wars

Book 1 – Dravincia

Book 2 – Soul Bond

Book 3 – Regicide (Release TBD)

The Dimensional Wars Origins

Book 1 – Rayne

Divine Genesis

Book 1 – Atlas Rising

If you are looking for more book recommendations, or if you feel like chatting about books you have already read. Go to the LitRPG Books group on Facebook.

If you want to see updates on The Dimensional Wars or if you have